There is a family of poker games known in the art in which a group of players use one or more shared, or community, cards, to form each player's hand. Among the games in this family are Texas Hold 'em and Omaha. These games are typically played solely in poker rooms by players competing for a player-funded pot. These games are thereby categorized as “player-banked” as it is the players' wagers which find the payout, i.e. the pot.
Another family of poker games allow players to only utilize the cards they receive individually, i.e. no community cards. As such, these games are more conducive to simple proposition wagers, wagers which do not involve competition with other participating wagerers, and which are rewarded according to a simple pay table. An example of a game in this family is draw poker, played in a variety of manifestations, including “Jacks or Better” and “Deuces Wild.” While these games may be played as player-banked games, they are becoming increasingly popular as house-banked games, where pay outs are based on absolute results rather than relative results.
Games such as Texas Hold 'em and Omaha, as player-banked games, greatly favor experienced and expert players, those who are able to “read” other players, and play a more effective betting strategy utilizing bluff and intimidation. While this adds to the appeal of these games in poker rooms, or in poker tournaments, or even in television events, it lessens their appeal to the casual player and eliminates such games from the family of table games which may be played against the house. This also limits the universe of potential wagerers to those actually playing the game, i.e. sitting at the table in competition with the other players present.
A proposition wager on a game of burgeoning popularity, such as Texas Hold 'Em provides an opportunity for additional wagering activity, particularly among such individuals who are loathe to risk large amounts of money by competing with recognized experts. Giving a wagerer the opportunity to place a bet on the same deal as the recognized celebrities of poker without relying on the cards dealt an individual player, or on either their own wagering and bluffing skill or that of a participant, will elicit gaming activity, and hence income to the house, from those already playing, as well as from those who would otherwise be spectators.